Akira Hongō
Akira Hongo is the Karate Master of Yami's One Shadow, Nine Fists and the master of Shō Kanō. Appearance Akira wears tight black clothing complete with gloves and has a muscular build, like all other masters, but has a few defining characteristics. He constantly wears sunglasses with triangular lenses, has a large scar running down his left eye, and has pointy ears. He also has scruffy facial hair, giving him the look of a thug. In recent chapters, he is revealed to have pointed ears, like Niijima's. Personality Hongo is a rather serious man when it comes to many things, even as simple as meeting the other Fists. He scorns the use of science and technology to measure one's level of Martial Arts, though has shown he doesn't mind using it to train Sho. Despite his cold nature, he has a rather close bond to his disciple and cares for him deeply. He has faith in Sho that he is the 'Sole Successor' and wishes to disprove everyone's opinion of Sho that he is not worthy of the title. He has also shown visible rage when he heard Sho died during the D of D Tournament. He harbors a great hatred for Ryozanpaku, as it is revealed he received his scar from one of the masters and is clearly upset when he learns Sho died saving Miu Furinji. In the battle for the Karate successor of Yami, he received his scar from Shio Sakaki, and tells Kenichi to tell Sakaki that they will "end this soon". During his past when he trained the young Sho, Hongo has also shown to be rather lenient, as he does not care that Sho saved the bird, simply saying with a smile, "Do what you like." This shows that he respects the wishes of others, a key mindset that placed him into conflict with Sakaki. Hongo's reason for embracing the Satsujinken is out of honor for Saito Hajime, who demanded a death match with him when Yami pitted the three karateka together in a death match. His conflict with Sakaki stems from this reason, whereas Sakaki wanted to let Hajime live and do what was best for him, Hongo was more concerned with fulfilling Hajime's wishes, calling Sakaki "selfish" for refusing to understand that. Plot Overview Akira once had a past with Shio Sakaki and Saito Hajime, in a case where he and Sakaki had a disputed victories and Sakaki sought him out at a local karate match to settle matters. Thus starts a series of long days in which he would challenge Sakaki, with their matches supervised by Hajime. Their battles would alternate, with Hongo occasionally gaining victory and Sakaki matching Hongo's victory record. When Hajime accompanies the two in their underground ventures, Hongo would adopt Sakaki's attacking stance to correct his overly careful fighting style. When Hongo is called to challenge Sakaki and Hajime, he is at first reluctant to fight Hajime, but later comes to terms with his friend's wishes and easily dispatches him with a knife hand. He later fights Sakaki, cementing his 126th win and enabling him to join Yami. Hongo is first seen calling Sho to his boat to meet Ogata inside a ship. He is later seen in a meeting with the other fists. Akira is then seen looking quietly at the female spy, with Sho toying around with her and letting her escape. He then berates Sho, telling him to stop playing around, and Sho reveals the disc he took from the spy. He is later seen overlooking at Sho's training. After Sho's death, he is seen angrily walking into the place where the other One Shadow Nine Fists meet, breaking the wall, casually shrugging off the people who are trying to stop him, and questioning the other Fists about Sho's death. Ogata's apology does little to appease Hongō, as the latter angrily attacks the ground, sending a fissure towards Diego Carlo and questioning if he did it, as Diego was in charge of the DofD. He later comments that One Shadow Nine Fists seem complete and asks Ogata for the location of Sho's body and receives the answer that the allied force have taken it. He then asks for details about Sho's death and is shocked when he heard Sho died protecting Miu. Cyril Rahman, Mikumo Kushinada and Ro Jisei voice their confirmation of disapproving Sho as the suitable heir of their techniques, prompting an angry response from the Karate master. Later, after defeating a group of martial artists, Hongo along with Seta and Hayami visit a village where Sho often went, to mourn his disciples' death. Upon noticing that Kenichi and Miu were also in the village, Hongo goes with Seta and Hayami to their location, allowing his disciples to attack them. After his disciples were defeated, he deduces the cause of Sho's death, easily evading Shigure and Apachi and eventually left, telling Kenichi to relay a message to Sakaki. He is later seen training his disciples and then meeting up with Sakaki and commencing their final battle. Abilities Akira was chosen to become the one who will eventually lead Yami but for unknown reasons he didn't. Sakaki mentions that as a student, Akira already complete understood all his moves and even states that Akira is considered one of the strongest amongst the Nine Fists, and the best of them at raising disciples. Throughout his rivalry with Sakaki, he was able to defeat Sakaki, who was considered by many the greatest master-level martial artist in karate, 126 times out of 251, earning him one victory over Sakaki's record. This would make him at least on par with, if not slightly better than Sakaki. Rachel Stanley also mentioned in chapter 433 that Akira was a man whom her master, Diego Carlo, acknowledged as superior to him. Immense Strength: Several martial artists tried to stop him by trying to hold him all at once but he kept striding forward normally. He also sent the group flying when he released his ki. Immense Ki: '''Even Kenichi, who has already encountered Ki from master level opponents several times, finds Akira's Ki unbelievable and intimidating. Shigure, who rarely fears any enemies, find him extraordinary within a few seconds of exchanging blows. On top of that, it is hinted that he was suppressing his ki all these time. When he mention Sakaki to Kenichi, he released vast amount of ki that completely surprised Kenichi. After which, Elder appears and stops Miu from pursuing Akira, stating that "he is dangerous". This is the second time Elder stated something like this, second to Silcardo Jenazad whom Elder commented that he had a tough fight with. His Ki is extremely immense to the point where when it clashes with Sakaki who's ki he is incompatiable with does nothing but create a destructive force. Both Kenichi and Miu note that his ki is nothing like they have seen before. And when fully released along with Sakaki even more so, to the point where even those with a relatively strong heart cannot stay in the area. '''Acute Senses: He is able to hear the chime of his disciple's broken caged bird earring from within the village while staring down at it from a hilltop. He is able to completely avoid Shigure's sword strikes and Apachai's attacks even though he was carrying one of his disciples. Immense Speed: Upon hearing the chime, he almost instantaneously arrives at the home that Kenichi and Miu were investigating. He is fast enough to exchange a battle of offense and defense of the highest level with Sakaki in an instant and the only way to keep up with the speed was to not watch with the normal eye but the inner eye. Despite this, His level of speed is so high that even Miu who was used to the battles of a master lost the ability to see the battle against Sakaki due to the overwhelming speed in which they were battling. Techniques As Hongo was Sho's original master, it could be surmised that he knows all of the Karate techniques he taught his disciple. Evidence from Seta's and Hayami's martial arts styles also implies that Hongo knows a variety of Karate styles specializing in certain strikes, such as knife hands, grapples, or kicks. *'Jinenken: Nejiri Nukite': Unlike Sho, who rapidly alternates his spinning knife hands, Hongo shoots both hands forward and strikes simultaneously, piercing through his opponent. *'Tenchi Jouge (Heaven Earth Upside Down):' The Stance Of Overpowering Annihlation. This is Hongo's signature karate stance. A highly offensive stance despite him being Sei Martial Artist who are usually defensive. *'Kyouha Kumikuzushi (Mirror Crushing Interception)': A powerful attack where Akira grabs the target and emits a powerful shockwave that could destroy the target. *'Uzumawashi Zanrin Geri(Decapitation Swirl Kick)' *'Maeba no Kamae (Front Of The Wing):' A traditional Karate technique, it is an iron defense that concentrates in the users hands to cross guard the opponents attacks *'Soumawashiuke (Full Rotational Defence)' *'Morotetsu Tsuiuchi (Dual Hands Iron Hammer Strike)' *'Dankuu Shuutougiri (sky's judgment - sword cut)' Category:History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi character Category:Yami Category:Master Category:Satsujinken